#i loved seeing smg back in action

[ad0rechuu]

★ MILKY WAY. ━━ (00i) smg route: final puzzle piece

WORD COUNT. 778

WARNINGS. it’s gets a tiny bit spicy but nothing 2 bad

don’t forget to ask questions for the event!! i need three more !!!

credits to @ari-shipping-stuff for being my beta reader / writer <33

YOU SEE HIM. AND YOU KNOW HE SEES YOU TOO BY THE WAY HIS EYES WIDEN WHEN HE MEET YOURS.

All the contestants had packed the stage for the award ceremony. Ateez stood pretty far away from the crowds eyes, unintentionally shielding you from their vision.

None of them had spotted you until they were announced as the winners of the silver prize. Yeosang somehow saw your figure in the hoards of people, waving with excitement.

The seemingly innocent action also brought you into his view.

“I’m in love with you.”

That was first thing Mingi said when Yunho lead you into the dressing room.

After the performance, Yunho had come up to you as you were in line for a gift. He only said that Mingi needed you right now.

Of course your internal alarm bells went off, imagining all the worst possible scenarios that Mingi could have found himself in while you followed Yunho backstage. You aren't even sure if you were allowed to be here, but the rules were the least of your concerns when the man you love could be in a horrible predicament.

As you reach one of the last rooms in the small hallway, you see a tall figure standing there. You immediately call out to him.

“Mingi! Are you okay?”

That’s when he said it.

You were honestly stunned. He, too, was shocked at his own words. And so was poor Yunho, who didn’t have enough time to exit the room before Mingi dropped the bomb.

He probably didn’t mean to say that either, judging from his wide eyed reaction.

You hear the door behind you close as Mingi fumbles with a piece of paper, trying to recall the words of encouragements that San and Seonghwa gave him earlier.

When he looks at you, you still seem shocked; conflicted and unsure of what to do next. He doesn’t blame you in the slightest.

“Uh, I didn’t mean that.” He pipes up, his deep voice raising an octave.

While he’s busy trying to figure out what to say next, you take his words in. Maybe heartbreak or anger would be the logical reaction to this but all you really feel is very confused.

“..You didn't mean it.”

He makes his way over to you quickly, desperate to clear any misunderstandings up.

“Wait, actually I did mean it— I meant that I didn’t mean to say it like that.” He sighs, not realizing the weight of his words.

You nod. “Me too.”

The question marks going around in his head are clear as day but he still asks.

“You what too?”

You are fast to wrap your arms around his neck, sporting a genuine smile as you lean closer to his ear.

“I’m in love with you too.” You whisper.

Mingi feels his heart rate pick up as he scans your eyes for any sign of dishonesty. He’s worried that his heart is going beat out of his chest when he doesn’t find any. He avoids your eyes and tries to keep himself from smiling, which he fails miserably in.

His hands find a comfortable hold on your hips, like they belong there. You lean forward and kiss him, and your stomach fills with even more butterflies because it feels even better than you expected.

He pulls away, his happy dazed look becoming more serious. “Does that mean that you’re mine now? And I’m yours?”

With a firm nod, you agree.

“Yes, I’m yours, lovely,” You pause your sentence as you brush some colorful locks of hair out of his face. “and you are mine!”

The grip on your hips tighten as he pulls you closer than you thought was possible, Mingi leans down to capture your lips once more. He doesn’t close his eyes until he feels the plump skin on his, reveling in the ultimate bliss that you bring him.

In the commotion, he stumbles back falling into the makeup chair, forcing you two to break the kiss.

Neither one of the two of you say anything as he wraps his arms around your middle and rests his head against your belly, closing his eyes in pure comfort.

You stroke the hair on the back of his head in a steady rhythm, which seems to calm him down even more.

At least, that’s what you thought. To your surprise, he starts laughing softly, moving to pull you into his lap.

“What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head and looks up at you with a smile.

“Nothing, I’m just really happy.”

If only he knew how happy he made you. He is your final puzzle piece, the milky way that you’ve been missing.

‹ PREVIOUS ᜊ NEXT ›

NOTES. fun fact! yunho demanded that he needed therapy after this but settled for a big mac ! also please comment your favorite mingi moment of this fic!

TAGLIST. @bunnystrm @seongwin @aestheticsluut @meginthebuilding27 @gaebestie @stopeatread @pr1ncessm1ng1 @persphonesorchid @se0nghwaswife @seonghwasslytherin @leeknowsnothing @alixnsuperstxr @bluehwale-main @miriamxsworld @tocupid @rieuvie @sunoo-bby @jcngh0-hq @dudufodd @nikisbf @mrowwww @end0rchans @qtdenks @mintgki @dear-dreamie @leo-seonghwa @evilsailorsenshi @seonghwaddict @choichaeyiul @iw4milf @yunstarz @cvberidiot @not2daym8 @tubatu-wari-wari @sunshine1438 @jaehunnyy @brrrkdslek @whippedforbeomgyu @amara-mars @crvzy-fujoshi @hyuk4ngel @atinyinateezverse @nickiminajleftasscheek

[ask-a-w]

Long recap about Death Island

Death Island aired on 22 June 2023 in my country and I watched it on the opening day.

Go in with low expectations and it's a fun action movie, don't expect a strong plot. The formula is similar to the previous RE CGI movies so the plot is pretty predictable!

As always, Leon destroys a vehicle and dangles from something with one arm. Leon is no longer cynical and depressed like he was in Vendetta.

Shipping is non-existent. Maybe some Valenfield if you take some scenes out of context. Cleon wise, also nothing since Leon only talks to Claire once or twice in the movie and it's about the mission. No Ada, sadly. For Jilleon, if you consider them being in the same room as shipping, sure. They conduct themselves professionally and Leon is his usual sarcastic quippy self.

Rebecca is just there 'cos she's the medical/science expert. Honestly both Claire and Rebecca don't do a whole lot in this movie.

There are no post-credit scenes.

I will be posting super lengthy spoilery recap below the Read More as I write down what happens scene by scene. So grab a drink and buckle in. If you can do a summary, feel free to do so.

Movie starts with a 1998 flashback featuring Dylan Blake, his best friend JJ, and other Umbrella soldiers in a truck that is headed towards Raccoon City in the very early days of the outbreak. They are given orders to evacuate Umbrella personnel & government officials only. If any civilian attempts to get through, they are to be shot on sight.

The truck reaches a blockade on the outskirts of the city where some uninfected Raccoon City citizens are scuffling with Umbrella soldiers. A government official’s car barely scrapes through the blockade.

The scene then cuts to Dylan, JJ, and team hiding in a butchery. Everyone except Dylan and JJ have been bitten. Orders are given on the radio to quarantine anyone who has been bit. JJ & Dylan separate themselves from the infected and hole up in a storage room that has a glass window that overlooks the adjacent room where the infected soldiers are. New orders are given that HQ won’t evacuate any uninfected Umbrella soldiers unless they kill their infected comrades. JJ readies a submachine gun (SMG), Dylan disagrees and briefly scuffles with JJ as their teammates turn into zombies and bang on the glass window which shows signs of fracturing. JJ gains the upper hand and starts shooting the zombies as Dylan lays on the floor and screams at JJ to “Stop it!”

Opening sequence time featuring each character’s mish mash of scenes from the games and this movie. You see everyone’s profiles and Leon’s profile is all redacted in black bars. Even his nationality is redacted which amuses me.

We are then shown a street in San Francisco in 2015 where Leon has parked his lime green motorbike on the side of the road as he listens to instructions from Hunnigan. They got back the OG voice actress for Hunnigan but we don’t get to see Hunnigan's face for this movie.

Hunnigan mentions a government employee who specialises in robotic engineering by the name of Antonio Taylor and he is wanted by the government for leaking military secrets to overseas groups. He has been kidnapped by terrorists in a white & orange truck and Leon is tasked to intercept said truck and “rescue” (aka arrest) Dr Taylor.

Leon spots the truck and there is a very exciting motorbike chase scene with the super powered Maria (from Vendetta) who interferes with her own motorbike. Leon destroys her motorbike but she manages to jump onto his motorbike to fight him off. Needless to say, Leon gets thrown off the bike, rolls on the road with no damage but his bike explodes in the process as he laments, “I loved that bike.”

Next scene is Claire investigating an orca carcass that has washed up on a beach. The local fishery official noticed a TerraSave tracker on the carcass and that’s why Claire is brought in because TerraSave has places trackers on marine animals for some reason... She measures the bite wound and the official asks if a shark caused this. Claire says the wound is bigger than a shark's mouth and is puzzled.

After that we are shown Jill in the dark in a garage of a house. She darts around carefully, repeatedly clicking her flashlight on and off as she searches the house. Chris orders her on the comms to secure the street but Jill responds that it's too late as she is already inside the house and then she shuts off her comms.

You might be annoyed by Jill turning the flashlight on and off because I found it very distracting.

Anyway she reaches the second floor of the house, notices blood stains on the wall and finds a female corpse on the floor of a bedroom. She gets ambushed by a male zombie, tussles with it, smashes through the second floor balustrade onto the glass table on the first floor and kills the zombie. This is the scene that is shown in the trailer.

The SWAT team and Chris in his BSAA uniform enter the house. SWAT surrounds Jill and point their weapons at her as she raises her hands. Chris says "She's with me" (feel free to count this as an out-of-context Valenfield moment) and the SWAT team disengage and search the house. Chris admonishes Jill for going into the house without backup while Jill says she's not gonna stand by and wait if there are innocent people to be saved.

We are introduced to the final main character and Rebecca is in a lab doing some research on a laptop. Chris walks in and asks for updates regarding the infected that have recently popped up in San Francisco. Rebecca says the twelve corpses in the morgue have an advanced strain of T-virus, no bite wounds, and only have needle marks. Those that are bitten by the advanced strain zombies do not turn but die from their wounds. They talk about Jill and if you watched the trailer, the conversation is about Jill and her lingering guilt of being brainwashed by Wesker.

We get to see another trailer shot of Jill shooting at targets in the gun range. Chris walks in and I don't know how Jill senses Chris is behind her but she knows he's there and takes off her ear mufflers. (Another Valenfield moment?) Chris discusses about Jill's recklessness. He talks about Piers Nivans from RE6 and how he was going to pass the baton to Piers but he tragically died to save Chris' life. Chris says people in their line of work have to be willing to die.

I can't remember much of the dialogue/argument between both of them but there's something along the lines of being soul-less and empty inside and how Jill continues to fight so she won't dwell on being empty. She ends the argument by putting on her ear mufflers and continues to angrily shoot at her targets.

Finally, we are in the big bad's secret liar where Maria and Dylan are holding a hooded Dr Taylor hostage (you won’t see the doc’s face until the later part of the movie), forcing the doctor to do some stuff on the computer. Dylan is shown with a limp and a cane. Dylan empties his revolver and leaves one bullet in the chamber. He plays russian roulette with Dr Taylor and since the gun does not fire, Dylan merely remarks Dr Taylor "will die by some other fate". Dylan also has a weird tic where he taps his cane on the floor at least five times in succession. We will learn why later...

Dylan then puts the gun to his own head and there's another flashback to the butchery in the opening scene. JJ is momentarily overwhelmed by a zombie and gets bit before he finishes off the horde with the SMG. Dylan tries one last time to plead with HQ to evacuate him and the injured JJ but HQ says all those who are bit must be killed.

Dylan and JJ fight over the SMG, and JJ fires the gun in the tussle, shooting bullets into Dylan's leg (which is why he has a limp in the present day). Dylan manages to get the SMG in the end. Flashback ends there with Dylan in the present day pulling the trigger of the revolver but nothing happens.

[From this point onwards, I might not get the scenes correctly in order but the content of the scenes are fairly accurate.]

Claire goes to the same lab where Jill, Chris, and Rebecca are in. Rebecca has analysed the bite wound on the orca carcass which has some remnant T-virus in it. The orca has been part of the herd swimming around Alcatraz. Rebecca also says this new T-virus cannot be transmitted airborne or by saliva which is concerning.

Anyway, all the victims are linked to Alcatraz so Jill, Chris & Claire (gonna dub them the trio) go to investigate while Rebecca stays behind to create a vaccine, and also be the mission liaison in case things go wrong.

The trio join a group of tourists to visit Alcatraz while Dr Taylor has escaped. Dylan tasks Maria to recover their hostage as he notices on CCTV that the trio have set foot on Alcatraz. Just when the trio plan to split off from the tour group to do some private sleuthing of their own, the tourists take turns to become zombies without being bitten.

Lots of impressive fight scenes as the trio try and fail to save the civilians. A security guard with a SMG is surrounded by zombies and their combined weight makes them crash through the floor into a sewer(?) tunnel below. Even though Jill loses her gun, she jumps in after the guard to save him by kniving a zombie but the guard sadly turns as well. Jill is now separated from the Redfield siblings.

Dylan also releases a cage full of lickers underwater with marine-like ear features that remind me of the monster from The Shape of Water. I am calling them marine-lickers to make it easier.

The siblings are now alone, surrounded by bodies. Their comms are jammed and they are worried about Jill. Both hear a thumping coming from a cart and they open it to find a cowering man hidden within. He gives his name as "Tony Davis" and I could spot from a mile away that the man was Antonio Taylor. They all try to get out of the island.

Jill, armed with only a knife and flashlight, carefully explores the tunnels. She spots a shadow in the tunnel and to us viewers, it is very obviously Leon's shadow. Jill and Leon briefly brawl with one another and come to a stalemate as Jill finally gets a good look at Leon's face and just exclaims in surprise, "Leon?"

Leon recognises Jill as well and they disengage while Leon gives Jill a spare gun from his vest before they get interrupted by a zombie. Before they can kill the zombie though, it gets pulled away by a long tongue and Leon briefly mentions "Not good" before he motions to Jill to stay silent.

Jill also has her back partially on the floor and against Leon's knee/foot(?) and Leon has one knee on the ground while his other knee/foot/hand(?) is propping Jill's back. I gotta admire Jill's serious control over her abdominal muscles as the marine-licker comes out of the shadows and uses its tongue to "taste" the air around Jill's knee and face. Jill is very disgusted and is grimacing.

One of the containers beside Jill's face begins to fall and she manages to catch it in time but she does not notice a small cartridge on top of the container which clatters to the ground. Leon shoots the marine-licker ASAP as two more marine-lickers join in the fray and they try to run away.

Jill's ankle gets snagged by a marine-licker and Leon dives in to grab Jill's hand to prevent her from being pulled away. Both of them try to kill the marine-lickers behind each other.

They run again as a bunch of marine-lickers come out from the shadows and there is a funny dialogue of Jill asking "How many are there?" as Leon replies "I am not stopping to count" before he kicks up a jerry can and shoots it, incinerating the tunnel of marine-lickers. He then replies "Zero" as Jill goes "What?" and Leon clarifies there are now zero lickers. Pffft.

The Redfields and "Tony" are holed up in a cafeteria and when "Tony" learns Claire is from TerraSave, he accuses her of being a bioterrorist for what happened in Harvardville (Degeneration). Claire angrily retorts that TerraSave was framed.

"Tony" wanders off and gets ambushed by a zombie. Claire steps in to save him and "Tony" apologises for his behaviour. We are then shown something's POV as it flies around the three of them. It aims for Claire's neck and she collapses, seemingly paralysed. Chris rushes to his sister before he gets paralysed too. "Tony" just runs away before he sees Maria on the stairs.

And we are back to Rebecca in the lab as she receives a call from Hunnigan about someone hacking into the DOD (department of defence) to obtain confidential information about bioterror attacks that have happened since Raccoon City along with files on Leon, Chris, Jill & Claire. Rebecca says she has not heard from the trio for 2 hours and decides to go rescue them. (This scene is in the trailer)

Leon and Jill are squatting down and making their way through a tunnel. (Leon is taking the lead btw) Jill questions why there is such a tunnel down here and Leon says it's probably used for transporting weapons from when Alcatraz was a military base. Jill quips Leon should be a tour guide.

Leon feels a draft of wind coming from a nearby wall and he pulls apart the wall brick by brick to find a crawl space. We do not see them crawling as they next appear in a spacious liar that has baby BOWs that are being incubated in the water, an armoury loaded with a ton of weapons that is next to a submarine dock that was "probably leftover from the military base".

They find a console that showcases bio-drones which are essentially mosquito drones. Dylan cackles over the comms and taunts Leon and Jill to go back to the prison compound where Claire & Chris are waiting.

Back to the prison compound they go while Rebecca is shown gearing up and carrying a case of vaccines as she is escorted by a SWAT team.

In the prison compound, Chris is in one jail cell while Claire & "Tony" are in another cell next to Chris. The Redfield siblings are pale and clearly unwell. Leon finally notices that Antonio is in the same cell as Claire and reveals the doctor's identity to everyone. Leon is also bit by the bio-drone and he slumps down to the floor.

Dylan & Maria finally make their appearance to the heroes and there's some egotistical villain dialogue. Dylan briefly name drops Glenn Arias from Vendetta as it is revealed both of them were acquainted. He hired Maria as she has some unfinished business with Leon for killing her dad.

Dylan says they should all be fighting the big organisations like the government who hide the truth instead of going after companies like Umbrella and individuals on the black market. He especially mocks Leon for working for the government that is clearly corrupt and Leon just says "It makes a living".

Dylan jeers at Claire for working with a NGO that does nothing but "only provides bandages" instead of doing real work to prevent bioterrorism.

He also ridicules Chris for having people die on every mission he's on and he keeps bringing in new people every time only for them to lose their lives.

Jill is spared from infection as Dylan wants her to feel his pain of seeing close friends turn and having to put them down. Claire is on the verge of turning and Dylan encourages Jill to shoot Claire before she can attack Antonio. Dylan taps his cane again and we flashback to the butchery.

Dylan has the SMG pointed at JJ and he pulls the trigger but it's empty. JJ tries to rummage through the mess on the floor and finds another SMG but Dylan grabs a metal box and smashes JJ's head with it at least five times (same rhythm as the cane), killing JJ.

Jill has her gun pointed at Dylan instead of Claire and Dylan shoots Antonio in the chest anyway. Maria and Jill fight a tiny bit before Leon manages to throw a flashbang as a distraction for Jill to escape. Dylan and Maria leave after that for "their final plan" and Dylan tells Maria not to go after Jill because there is nowhere else for Jill to go.

A dying Antonio asks the heroes why they keep fighting when things are so bleak and Leon and Chris say "There's Jill". Claire tries desperately to staunch Antonio's bleeding before Antonio reveals a secret code for a failsafe hidden in his pen. He hands the code to Claire and passes away.

Back to Rebecca on a boat as they approach Alcatraz and pull up to a choppy dock. The SWAT team notice a bogey approaching on the boat's radar which turns out to be an infected shark. Everyone dies via shark except Rebecca (plot armour is strong!)

Jill meets Rebecca in the tunnels as Jill heads towards the secret liar and she tells Rebecca to go to the cell block as the others are infected.

Back to Leon, Chris, and Claire as they shudder in pain and try their hardest not to turn. Rebecca arrives and Leon recognises her and calls her by name. Rebecca administers the vaccine to Leon by injecting him in the neck.

Jill arrives at the secret lair and the baby BOWs have released tons of bio-drones into the air which has now spread all over the globe.

Back to Rebecca, Claire, and Chris as both siblings are now cured, albeit still weakened, and out of their cells. Leon is absent as he ran off to the secret lair as soon as he could stand.

Leon is back at the console in the secret lair and tries to stop the bio-drones but he is interrupted by Maria who wants revenge on him for killing her father in Vendetta. It's a very fierce battle since Maria is super powered and Leon is still recovering so he is barely dodging her attacks. Leon gets his head & body smacked a lot in this fight too. Ouch. Maria is the one that throws a chair at Leon in the trailer.

There are also meme worthy scenes of Maria trying to put Leon in a headlock with her legs... I'm sure dirty-minded fans will have a field day with this.

Leon gets a sudden rush of energy and manages to kick Maria so hard she gets impaled on a rebar and dies. Leon shows no remorse btw and he never flirts with her in this movie.

Jill finds Dylan at the submarine dock and he injects himself in the head with the advanced T-virus and falls into the water below to merge with the BOW shark.

We have all five heroes grouping up and pointing their weapons at the mutated Dylan which looks like a cross between an elephant, RE6 HAOS, and RE4 mutated Saddler. Trailer shot of all five of them jumping to avoid the tentacle and then all of them separate after that with Jill and Chris finding caches of weapons to attack Dylan, Rebecca and Claire fire RPGs before Leon asks Claire to use Antonio's passcode on the console. Rebecca decides to accompany Claire.

All the massive weapons deal no damage to Dylan. Leon even drives a truck full of explosives into Dylan too. (Second vehicle Leon destroys in this movie)

Jill finds a short-ranged plasma rifle and asks Chris and Leon to lure Dylan over to her. So we get the trailer shot of Leon driving a humvee while Chris mans the machine gun turret on the back, shooting at Dylan and trying to get Dylan within Jill's range. Jill fires the weapon and while Dylan is seemingly dead, he still comes back to life.

Jill tries again to fire the plasma rifle but it needs time to charge and she gets smacked away by Dylan and Chris runs up to her to make sure she's alright. (Another Valenfield moment!)

Jill, Chris, and Leon run around the dock as Dylan rampages.

Before Claire can enter the killcode, Rebecca stops her and says they can control the bio-drones and the drones attack Dylan's body, "messing with its DNA".

Dylan tries desperately to escape into the ocean and they all try to close the gate leading out to sea. The gate lowers very slowly...

Jill has found a bag of weapons(?) and pulls out a flare, taunting Dylan to follow her as Leon and Chris try to assemble this huge-ass RPG that requires two people to carry.

Jill then dives into the water, Dylan follows after her, and she tries to shove a grenade into Dylan's mouth but is briefly strangled by the strap of her bag of weapons. She knives Dylan's eyeball and cuts the bag strap to free herself. It almost looks like Jill loses consciousness & sinks but then the camera cuts away to Leon and Chris firing the huge-ass RPG on the chains of the gate to make it drop down even faster.

Gate drops down on Dylan's head but doesn't quite decapitate him, Jill's bag of grenades (I think) goes off and Dylan's body explodes in a shower of goo.

Jill climbs out of the dock, miraculously dries off within a minute, and looks at the water with Dylan's gooey body. Leon and Chris are further away behind her, look at the body for a few seconds before they turn and walk away.

Scene transitions to the outside of Alcatraz where it is now sunrise. Leon jokes he can add "tour guide" into his resume as three helicopters are seen flying towards Alcatraz.

The camera shows an overhead view of Alcatraz and slowly pulls out... before the end credits roll with reels from the movie shown on the left and names of the people who worked on the movie on the right. (Kinda like Damnation's end credits)

So yeah, that's the movie. Pretty linear and not as messy as Vendetta but still predictable as the villain turns into a BOW.

Thanks for reading! I know I got a little tired at the end. I would say to watch this movie when the blu-ray/DVD comes out, probably not worth the money to watch in the theatre.

[unhingedlesbear]

MARK ESSAY! BIGASS MARK POST!!!

A lot of y’all already know I love Mark. Bro isn’t even my favourite SMG character but he’s also currently the one I feel the strongest about simply because I don’t see anyone else literally anywhere willing to defend him. Emily and Emma don’t need me rn y’all they have fandoms but THIS is a job for ur girl only it seems (woop woop) so I wrote this essay about why he deserves more recognition and less hate from the fans. I can’t promise it’s very well written bc I wrote it from like 2-4am and I haven’t exactly proofread but whateverrr.

LONG FUCKING POST AHEAD

A common thing I ALWAYS see from Mark haters is that he’s “boring” or “dull” compared to the others. While it’s true that his personality isn’t quite as distinct or individual as the other four, is that not… literally one of the aspects of his character? That he follows what the people around him do rather than voicing his own thoughts and opinions? It’s literally a part of his character so I don’t see the issue with him usually just falling behind Charlie or Kate for example, because it makes sense to me that he’d do that.

 People often argue that he’s “too nice” and doesn’t have enough flaws. Why is that an issue when it comes to Mark when the same could be said about characters like Salim or Sam who are infinitely more loved? I also really like Sam and Salim but for the sake of this argument I’ll point out a few flaws in the fact that people seem to think they’re significantly more interesting than Mark. You can argue that it’s because of Salim’s arc with Jason, but that’s the arc more than the character himself. Really Salim doesn’t have any real flaws at all and isn’t all that deep of a character, as likeable as he is. And people have said it’s because of his action scenes, but I’ll get to that point about Mark later. With Sam, similar things can be said. Point mainly is, the idea that Mark is boring because he’s “too nice and lacks flaws” doesn’t really make sense if you’re not consistent with it when it comes to other characters too.

Something that @108garys pointed out that I agree sm with is that a lot of people tend to ignore the relatability of his character. I feel like I can especially talk about this one as Mark is one of the SMG characters I relate to most, possibly even more than Brad. With characters like Kate or Erin, it’s easy to relate to them because of their anxieties, and you see a lot more people admitting to relating to that where you don’t with Mark. He relies on other peoples opinions rather than his own, doesn’t like making decisions and can end up passing up opportunities that are better for him because of it. You can see in his interactions with usually Kate or Charlie that if they disagree with him about something, it doesn’t take much for him to step back and agree with them because that’s just how he is. I don’t know about other people but I find all that to be extremely relatable so I wanted to point that out as probably one of the reasons I ended up so attached to him in the first place. 

Another think I see him hated for is because of his plot armour. Now this would be fair coming from someone who just hates all forms of plot armour but I see a loooot of inconsistency with this one. Out of all SMG characters with plot armour, Mark’s is a rare case that actually makes sense in the plot. Du’met had specifically selected Mark to be the next ferryman, of course he wasn’t going to kill him. I’m going to use Mike from UD as a comparison but a lot of this can apply to the other plot armour characters too. If you want actual plot armour, Mike is a perfect example. Where through TDIM, Mark isn’t actually in danger of death in most of his scenes (The only exception is when he and Charlie are crossing over that beam, in that case I definitely think he should have been able to die there but this is aside from that) Mike is put in dangerous situations where he can’t die SOLELY because of plot armour. Du’met isn’t trying to kill Mark, he’s trying to contain him which he does in fact do if he captures him. The Ws in UD are actively trying to kill Mike and yet never actually do, for no plot related reasons at all, just because the game doesn’t want Mike to die yet. Another thing that’s different about these two cases is what happens when both characters lose their plot armour during the respective climaxes. In the climax of UD, Mike has ONE singular death and that’s it. Once he can die, he can only do so in one way. With Mark, he has the most death opportunities in the climax out of anyone. Du’met targets him during the entire fight. By default, Charlie and Erin have single QTEs to survive the end, Jamie has one choice, and Kate (Or Jamie/Erin if they’re the second to last instead of her) can only die if Mark is killed. Once Du’met is pinning Mark over the axe, it literally takes one fuck up to get him killed from that point on. I know I used Mike for this argument but similar things can be said about others like Jason, Salim and Nick. Mark is one of the only characters whos plot armour makes sense and yet I see his get shit on far more than any of the other examples when so many of those are worse.

(This part is a bit more of a ramble about his role in the story and relation to Du’met than anything. Bear with.) Anyway another point I need to point out is that people really have no business acting like Mark is somehow unimportant when he literally has the most personal conflict with the antagonist?? So for starters, Mark was specifically targeted by Du’met, and I’d argue has the most personal conflict with the guy. He was the only one that ever could have worked for ultimatum (It would have to be a man making the call, and Charlie doesn’t really care enough about any of the others for it to work with him.) So he’s at the centre of Du’met’s entire game, and I’ve always felt that the fight on the boat feels kinda personal for this reason, because Du’met would honestly have such a hatred for him by that point now that I think about it. Du’met had this entire plan that he thought would go smoothly and time and time again Mark actively fucks it up for him. He breaks through Kate’s window in breathless, and right after that in workshop he ends up avoiding the cage he was supposed to fall into. After that he’s the first to escape the hotel, and next time he runs into Du’met they fight. By this point, sure Du’met is still not trying to kill Mark, but he chooses to attack Mark when he could easily just chloroform him as usual. Something about the way he fights Mark here makes me think he probably had a personal hatred of him at this point. Assuming qtes are failed, he’s out here stomping on the guy, hitting him with an axe handle, literally picking him up and throwing him and kicking him in the ribs while he’s down. And we know he’s not trying to actually kill him here so that whole thing screams anger or frustration more than anything. Then on the boat later, he targets Mark the entire time. (plus the way he deliberately shows Mark, and Mark only, his face definitely makes it feel more personal imo) He’ll spend half the fight trying to shove Mark into an axe, the whole time just swiping off Kate/Jamie/Erin when they try to save him. And out of everyone, Mark is the only one who can directly kill Du’met. (at least until he’s revived) Also this is just the boat ending. Ultimatum is a whole new thing. He literally is forced to work for Du’met to continue the cycle. So when a character has this obvious (to me at least) of a personal conflict with the main antagonist, you’d think the fandom would do more with that, since they seem to do it with other characters, but then I remembered it’s Mark and nobody thinks about Mark </3

(This entire thing I realise can be used as Du’mark propaganda. It’s not exactly what I was going for with it but fuck it, it is because it was things like this that made me point out the ignored potential of that dynamic in the first place. You can’t tell me people wouldn’t go wild if things like this happened with like… anyone else.) 

So I find it weird that people seem to not really do anything with any of this? For example, ultimatum is such a horribly amazing concept, and it specifically involves Mark at the centre of it, and yet on the rare occasion I’ve found an ultimatum fic, it never involves Mark. I’m being so fr rn, until 108garys posted their recent ultimatum fic I’d never seen an ultimatum fic with Mark. Lemme repeat that there were ultimatum fics, but no ultimatum fics with Mark. How tf r u gonna have an ULTIMATUM fic and exclude the ultimatum guy???? There’s also people who think he didn’t adopt Connieeee guys wtfff literally whooo else can he have one thing omg omggggg😭😭

Sorry got a bit unhinged there at the end but look whos living up to the name <3 anyway yeah as Mark’s no.1 fan😍 this post was always gonna happen. I jus think he deserves a lil bit more credit yk??? 🥱

Anyway gonna tag @queerkearney in this bc the whole idea came from our chats I love our chats <3

[anonymous-astronaut]

Mercs finding all their weapons replaced with bubble guns?

I took some artistic liberties with this one

Scout:

He’s SUPER into it, are you kidding it’s like a water balloon fight but with BUBBLES! Scout is like one of those dogs that runs back and forth at the speed of fucking light trying to catch them in his teeth, he pretty much reverts to a fourteen year old boy on a sugar high. He starts making twice as many sound effects as usual, blasting people in the face with his bubble shotgun. It’s the most fun he’s had in a long time.

Soldier

This man is soaring through the sky like a goddamn bubble rocket. He is fuckin flying to the point where he is convinced he himself is a bubble. When he does decide to land and point his launcher at people, heaven help them. That thing can take a man clear off his feet in a a flood of bubbles and launch him into space, and Soldier has no hesitation firing point-blank range either. He takes this just as seriously as any other fight, there is no mercy from his bubbly wrath.

Pyro

This is Pyro’s dream come true. For once, everyone is having just as much fun on the battlefield as they are, and Pyro is beyond delighted. They love sneaking up on people and absolutely showering them in bubbles, plus they can make pretty rainbows if they angle it in the sun right.

Heavy

WHO TOUCHED SASHA?!!? Seriously, if he doesn’t want find out what happened to his real gun fast, there are going to be problems. However, if Sasha is safe and sound, he’ll partake in a little bubble war, why not? At first he thinks it’s a bit childish, but a bubble machine gun…. it’s just too awesome to resist. Soon he’s having a grande old time mowing people down with bubbles.

Demo

Bubble BOMBS??? Omg, Demo is absolutely delighted by the possibilities. He becomes sneakier than a goddamn spy, setting up elaborate traps and suddenly making the whole field into a giant maze booby traps. I like to think he has all sorts of bombs to choose from, from ones that send you flying in a shower of bubbles to ones that fill up a whole hallway in foam. He’s running around giggling like a madman and sometimes accidentally setting off his own bubble mines.

Engie

He isn’t particularly thrilled about it at first. The bubble sentries are pretty cool, but he just feels so separated from the action, it takes all the fun out of it. He’s all pouty about it until Scout or Pyro sneaks up and blasts him, and then it’s game on. He’s takes his bubble shotgun out like “you little fucker” and joins in the mayhem.

Medic

Maybe he distributes bubble fuel instead of heals? Since no one is actually getting injured (unless it’s super intense, you never know with these guys). Idk how his medigun works, but either way I know he ISNT using it. No, Medic has gone FULL FERAL. He’s got his bubble-fied syringe gun out and is “RATATATATA”ing at everyone he sees, including his own teammates. Battle Medic mode engaged. Absolute wild child. Fear for your life

Sniper

How does this even work?? Does he shoot one really powerful bubble at someone? Maybe he can target a guy and trap a bubble around his head?? I’m not sure, but he probably can’t resist the mayhem for long and takes out his smg instead, running out on the field with everybody else for a change. He didn’t get to participate in games like this much as a kid, so getting blasted in the face by bubbles is somehow a fun and healing experience.

Spy

Imagine, if you will, the absolute shittiest little plastic bubble handgun you can possible picture. Cheap dollar-store water pistol lookin fucker. That’s it. That is what this man has to defend himself with. He gets six lil bubbly blasts and then he has to run around pumping it up to try and reload, and it’s fucking hilarious. He would just refuse to participate, but people keep picking on him and his ego is too massive to settle with just letting them get away with it. He ends up getting really into it. Afterwards he acts like it was the worse day of his life and complains about getting soap on his suit, but secretly he thought it was a tiny bit fun.

[vero-niche]

UNSURPRISING AND BORING??? HAZUGSÁG! TELL ME ABOUT IT ACTUALLY!!!

(context: this ask was sent by my dear mutual after i reblogged a post about what my special interest is, which is films and filmmaking that i called those things)

fjhfjvhnfkc im so sorry for not replying to this sooner, it's been haunting me since that day bc first i was like "i will answer from desktop bc this is gonna be a long one" and then... i didnt. anyway, im just gonna start rambling and hit post at some point when i run out of steam, enjoy 💞

edit: whoops better put All That under a read more lmao

note: by movie/film i also mean animation, tv shows, anime, etc

so, it all started when i was little.... we were living mostly in a small village in northern hungary, no access to cinemas or such but my dad started working at a tv station in the capital when i was like... idk. small

anyway, he had access to The Internet and pirated movies and brough home burned VHS tapes.... i loved fiction ever since i remember and movies were no different. saw a lot of disney and other stuff, mum says i rewatched a lot of them a lot of times.... as an undiagnosed adhd+autism kid these movies were my main source of obsession.

as many in my generation, i grew to love reading a bit later after i saw the first h*rry p*tter movie and read the book but even then and ever since as well my imagination works kinda like a movie. i imagine certain shots and angles, even tho for the most part my imagination is as fuzzy as my thoughts.

also on the part of the audhd, i was basically self medicating with movies. stressed? watch a movie. sensory overload? movie (or later on, music). feeling shit? movie. it kind of works like a factory reset of my brain if the film is good. i guess because for 1,5-2,5 hours i am completely focused on one thing in a way thats not exhausting to me.

during elementary, i was in a friend group that i got in because we were in the same not school related drawing group (rajzszakkör yknow) and basically all 4 of us were a bit too neurodivergent there i think 😄 anyway, somehow when i first got a phone with camera, we started doing little "sketches" (and me with my then best friend separately too). then two of those friends came up with a short movie idea, a mockumentary about the iconic "twin towers" of the town we lived in (and hated). the 4 of us filmed and played all parts, right there in the city, and one of us edited it. it turned out quite.... well, like a shitpost lmao. so, naturally, we got quite hooked but esp me and one other friend (who is now an acclaimed theatre director btw. lol)

anyway, so we did several of these short movies + i did several sketches and other stuff with all kinds of friends in the coming years, all through about mid-high school years...

for several reasons, despite it being the obvious choice, i didnt end up going to film major at uni but chose english studies. i don't regret it, but my place wouldve been at the film major tbh....

anyway, i decided to give up my filmmaking dreams... but yknow, special interests dont wotk that way lmao.

i kept watching movies with a critical mind, such as "oh this shot is good" or "this shot is too long, they should've cut it a few seconds earlier" or "oh, they are using xy technique here" and once you start looking at movies from a filmmaker point of view, theres just no turning back (or off). i think i majorly watch anime in my spare time now bc i analyze what i see less than with live action stuff.

so like. idk what my point here is. i listen to soundtracks of movies i loved, not just the ones with lyrics but the background music too. i love rewatching and dissecting parts. after seeing a new one that i loved i headstraight to imdb to the crew and trivia section, i watch/read interviews, check box office numbers even and stare in awe when they show a special technique or smg they used.

and i mainly always thought "well i just have a passion for it but its nothing that outstanding, right? people look these stuff up when then love smg, right?" well. 😶

then not too long ago i realized im not only adhd but autistic as well. and that the reason why this passion (and need to be involved in the making) never really left, even when i myself gave up on it, is bc its my special interest.

so now im slowly approaching crossroads bc on the one hand i have a stable corporate job with good routines at home. but on the other if i dont "give in" to my special interest i feel my soul will wither. but also im sososcared 👍

in summary:

[vampirologist]

Hey I was wondering about you opinion of buffy in season 7 if you don't mind sharing.

For me, I feel like they Xanderfied Buffy in season 7. The things she says may have some points but the way she says them makes me mad because it lacks any sympathy for others like what Xander usually does. Like when the potential killed herself or her telling robin to back off on killing spike. This is probably unpopular opinion lol

well I have conflicting thoughts on s7 (also keep in mind I’ve only seen it once). when watching it I felt like it was a lot for a last season where they’re introducing all this new stuff and so many different characters. idk if you’ve seen angel but in comparison to btvs, I feel like its final season works better and it’s similar to buffy wherein the frameworks of the show are shifted (all these potential slayers as opposed to just buffy and faith, and the angel investigations team joining what has been their enemy since s1)

for one, buffy has been through so much and they turn her a bit into a hardened general here which I can understand to an extent. sorry I know this is about buffy but I’m going to compare her here to angel in angel s5 because he’s a bit of an asshole in that season but it’s understandable given all he’s been through, the compromises he has to make on a daily basis, and what the show is going for- which is the concept of selling out and joining corporations. for buffy she’s a general now commanding her army, and she had been deeply depressed in the previous season. so I think it is reasonable for her be a bit cold in this season. but I love her and it makes me sad seeing her like that even if it makes sense because I want things to be alright for her. she’s kicked out of her own home by people who used up her money and lived in her house when she died and then brought her back against her will to be like lol we don’t have any money! I think I’d become more jaded too. also Ik smg was getting tired of playing buffy at that point. so I can rationalize buffy’s actions but I can totally understand where you’re coming from because it can seem a bit jarring

a thing that bothers me about buffy in s7 is the prioritization of spike like you mentioned with robin and spike. I get that she feels spike is the one person on her side and who she has been able to confide in for the past two seasons but STILL the line where she said she’d let spike kill them… two of the most pivotal parts of her life are when she killed her first love for the world and killed herself over dawn for the world and now she’s saying she’ll let spike kill people if they got out of line. that doesn’t sit right with me!

[thewolfmanny]

i wanna write up proper thoughts about this when I finish the game (I'm on ch7), but I'm actually kinda disappointed with The Quarry and I'm not that hard to disappoint (I still enjoy Man of Medan and Little Hope despite its flaws). also, it ran so badly on pc for myself and others, i had to jump thru hoops to get a refund and buy it for xbox instead. the bonus content w/ the preorder (which half is still not released yet) can actually be purchased separately and you pay about the same price for base game + bonus vs. preorder.

no spoilers for the story, but will be talking about game mechanics and how it runs

between the bugs, texture issues, poor controls, unclear dialogue options/choices, lack of relationship meters (even though that's important), seeing visions requiring certain actions/items being taken for survival AFTER you've played the scene (for example, not taking an item and then a vision in the next chapter telling you, oh you needed that???), terrible character actions (just standing around offscreen while your friend dies in the same room in a totally preventable way?? really??).

look, for the sake of comparison to the last smg title, I've played house of ashes multiple times and haven't gotten everyone out alive, but i still have fun. the deaths are campy yet gruesome, makes sense most of the time, and can be avoided if you're smart and collect clues. characters also come back for each other and protect each other depending on relationshiop levels/dialogue choices, hitting home the theme of working together to survive. they might be military in hoa which you can argue why they are so effective, but you'd think camp counselors would have basic survival instincts in the woods.

that doesn't matter at all in the quarry and characters will fuck each other over for no reason. there's no way of telling how your relationships with the others are for a game that relies on working together. maybe they wanted to make it harder, but this game really really feels incomplete and badly written (and i LOVE campy horror). if smg wanted to make an animated horror movie, they could have just done that. but this is a video game with the goal of making it to dawn and people don't have the time to play 40x just for all the niche clues, different helpful visions (cuz you can only pick certain ones over others to see despite how it could affect character survivability), etc. to make sure they don't fuck up.

fucking stupid.

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E9 (part 2)

What's my Line: part 1

After yesterday's long rant and ramble I am back to doing my normal recaps.

Cordelia's test indicating she would be good as a personal shopper, which is very logical, but also a motivational speaker. Maybe not now, but certainly after some personal growth, I could see that happening.

Xander as a prison guard? No. Definitely not.

Buffy does become a police officer in the comics, so her test was accurate. But the line about police brutality, yikes in this day and age.

Even Giles thinks other watchers were long winded and pompous.

Nine yards of what? The whole nine yards? Where does that phrase come from? I put it in my notes to look it up, but I am too lazy to do so because I am currently ill, and it's almost 11pm at the time of writing this the day before this is supposed to be published.

Yeah, dead Buffy jokes do not go down well with Giles.

Order of Taraka bounty hunters made up of demon, humans and other possible creatures.

Willow being headhunted by a tech company and now she meets Oz for the first time.

Even Giles thinks that law enforcement would be good career choice for Buffy.

Taraka members take their places, with some misdirection as to who one of them is.

Where did Kendra come from in the cargo hold to be able to surprise the guy?

SMG can actually ice skate.

Go Buffy, for using said ice skates to slice a bad guy's head off. Has that been done in a horror movie before, using a ice skate to kill someone? I feel like it has but I don't know where.

I wrote in my notes that I wish Spike would snuggle up with me the way he does with Drusilla, but since then I have been on a Jason Sudeikis thing (God damn you Ted Lasso for this) so as much as I love Spike and still find him attractive, my attention has been diverted elsewhere. But honestly, who doesn't want to be snuggled up to someone they love?

See Angel, Darla was wrong. Buffy did see your vampiric face and still want to kiss you.

Even Giles is freaked out by the Order turning up. That's definitely bad.

Dude made up of bugs. Eww.

Buffy's first interaction with Oz does not go well. Oh Oz, you have no idea how tense she is.

The next best place for Buffy to be is at Angel's since very few know where he lives. It's a smart move.

Girl take your shoes off before getting into bed. It's a pet peeve of mine when people put their shoes on furniture. You've been outside wearing them and will have dirt and stuff on them, why would you what to put them on things you sit or sleep on?

We meet Willy for the first time. I wonder what happens to him, because they stop bringing him back after season 4, I think?

Angel, honey, of course Spike sent to Order to kill Buffy. Who else would it be? Be logical about this my guy.

Kendra kicks ass. Mostly Angel's ass.

Xander is the first one to call the group 'the scooby gang'. Of course SMG would later go on to play Daphne in the James Gunn live action films and also marries Fred from the films too.

Is this the first time we see the Summer's house living room properly? I think it is.

Oh shit, two slayers! Well, Buffy did die last season, apparently there is no waiting time for when the next person gets called.

Part 1 of part 2 will be uploaded tomorrow.

I am thinking about posting Ted Lasso episode recaps on weekends to break up the Buffy recaps. I've watched season 1 of it and have notes ready to write up, it's just about finding a good time to do it. So it won't be this weekend or next but definitely in the future. I'll see what works.

[bukojuiice]

this is how you fall in love ━ levi ackerman

ೃ pairing: (levi ackerman x  gn! reader)

ೃ  the entire division of the survey corps are not convinced that you and levi are absolutely actually together. however, it took a small expedition outside of the walls and an abnormal titan incident for everyone to coo adoringly at the soft and loving demeanor that levi holds around you and only you.

ೃ genre and warnings: canonverse, fluff, and strong language.

ೃ  my nav  →  my aot masterlist  →   sign up for my taglist

ೃ 1.6k words

ೃ dedicated to one of my first uni friends, @ryscenery because if the two of us didn’t yell (affectionately) at each other for our love for levi, this fic may have never been birthed. i hope you enjoy! 🥺

Love certainly makes you do the wacky. But in a world where chaos is imminent, war is always looming, and people die to giant man-eating humanoid monsters, how can one possibly make their life akin to that of a romance novel?

Well, unfortunately, you can't.

It's a Live and Let Die world, after all.

But... to the remaining few of humanity who are strong and lucky enough to be still wandering the faces of the unknown world, love is a treasure. A gift only a few can find.

And somehow, and someway, you were lucky enough to find comfort in someone you never thought you'd expect to find.

Levi Ackerman.

The stoic and blunt smart-ass captain of the Survey Corps? Yes, him.

Honestly, it's quite a surprise. No one would have ever thought that someone could shake the world of Humanity's Strongest Soldier. It almost felt like a dream, honestly. Your subordinates and co-captains can't even get their heads wrapped around the fact that there's something between the two of you. Well, it's not like either you and Levi were bold enough to rub it in other people's faces.

Even Hanji, who made it seems as if they were utterly convinced over the fact that the two of you are together by teasing the two of you every time that you were within a few feet of each other, has their doubts.

It didn't take long until a minor expedition outside the walls made everyone in the division finally realize how much you and Levi were pining lovestruck dorks when hidden from the eyes of prying and spying soldiers.

An attempted attack from an abnormal titan had forced you to stray away from the rest of your squad's formation. Baiting the abomination away from your subordinates led you to get lost in the outskirts of an abandoned town. With a terribly injured leg, none of your essential equipment with you, and with no means of communication, you had no choice but to wait for the rest of the scouts on patrol to find you.

However, you were afraid of one person.

Levi knows how strong and how much you can hold up in a fight (Your Titan kill count is one of the highest in the Corps), but he hates how reckless you can get. How stubborn. How irrational your decisions can be at times and how much you hate the fact that he reprimands you for the littlest mistakes. Even if those mistakes could ultimately be the cost of your own life.

Catching sight of a shadowy figure and the sound of the clopping of horses from beyond a steep hill, you brace yourself for another long and agonizing lecture from Levi as he continues to approach.

"Captain (Y/N)!" Armin, a rookie soldier from your fleet, calls out. A look of relief forming on his face. "We brought Captain Levi! He's just behind us!"

"Oh, great." You whisper, grimacing to yourself. "Just great." Your wounded leg fails you as you try to prop yourself up onto your horse, falling back down on a mound of rubble.

You only wish you could know what Levi is feeling right now once he sees the predicament you've brought upon yourself once again.

"Captain (Y/N) has strayed away from our formation!" Jean reports sternly, a tinge of worry straining his voice. "They have diverted an abnormal titan from ruining our formation! As of now, none of us in the fleet know of their whereabouts! Neither do they have a flare gun nor any kits in case of an emergency, as they have left them with Krista before the expedition!"

Erwin clears his throat, shaking his head to try and keep his calm facade. "We'll send some soldiers to scout the-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the distinct cry of a nearby horse could be heard. As the rest of the surviving soldiers turn their heads to where the sound came from, they could do nothing but stare agape at Levi's fleeting figure cross through the safe area and again into dangerous territory. No one could dare to stop him, after all. There was no way.

All they could do was stare in awe at the dramatic yet sweet gesture of the stone-hearted captain that happened right before their tired eyes.

Maybe now they're finally convinced that the two of you are actually together.

(Levi's POV)

I sprinted through the vast fields with all the remaining strength I could muster. After a long exhibition, I didn't expect I'd have to drag my ass around to find (Y/N). Yet, I could not recall the last time I found myself so short of breath.

Dammit. Please be safe.

I am only vaguely surprised to feel an icy trickle of sweat on the back of my neck and my wringing hands as I hold onto the saddle.

Hurry... I must hurry.

There was not a moment to waste. If there were a titan to cross through these shitty grasslands ever again, I'd have to kill these fuckers as fast as I can. Whatever it took to reach them.

....How unlike me.

I hated this feeling. I knew it was inevitable and could happen anytime, but my body launched forward before Erwin could even give his command. Duty decreed that I should have informed him, but the thought came far too late.

I have no doubt Erwin will conjure some excuse for me. After all, this is what everyone wanted, right? Didn't they want to see more proof of my undying love for them? Just because I don't make goo-goo eyes at them doesn't mean I wouldn't defy everything just to keep them safe.

Perhaps I am being irresponsible... but I have no choice but to put my trust in him.

For now, I have someone more important than anything else, someone I cannot fail. Someone I must save.

At the end of the maddeningly long field of nothingness and stark skies, my destination hoves into view.

As (Y/N)'s weakened figure appears closer and closer to me, I abruptly halt my steed and dismount from it. With all my strength once again, I rush to their side.

Moments later, you hear Levi's voice, whom you had seen off just this morning. Wincing in pain due to your injuries, you mentally prepare yourself for another scolding.

"Keep safe" were the words he'd never fail to whisper every time the both of you are forced to depart from each other. It wasn't the most romantic saying out there, but it meant a lot. Especially coming from Levi. He was not the most physically affectionate beau out there, but these little sweet nothings were enough to make your heart flutter.

Observing his looks as he approaches, Levi almost seems panicked. Out of breath, even breaking a sweat... you can't even remember the last time you saw him like this.

His piercing gaze bore into yours, and you felt as though you might fall into it.

Levi takes one step towards you and then another.

"I-I'm fine... okay?" You puff your chest and tug at his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. I kicked that titan's ass before it could even get a hand of me. How about you? Are you alright? You're breathing so heavily."

He doesn't answer your question but instead drops his gaze into your shaking hands.

"(Y/N)..." His voice was barely audible, a whisper. There's this exasperated look in his eyes that you can't quite describe. And yet, through that faintest movement of his lips, you knew what he meant to say.

"Levi, listen. I'm-"

---And yet... he did not allow you to finish.

Soft warmth pressed against your lips. And his embrace... so intense yet so gentle.

He didn't have to say it with words; This is the first time Levi has shown such love through his touch. Kind, yet powerful. His kiss felt like the wings of butterflies, beating softly upon lips of crushed petals.

You remain in his arms, held tight to the Captain's chest.

The suddenness of his actions came as a surprise, of course... but even so.

The heat radiating from your bodies brought such a wellspring of happiness to you. You were so happy. So very, very happy.

It was so profound that you wished that it might never end.

"Tch. I thought I was going to lose you..." He trails off, squeezing your arm in slight annoyance. "W-why do you always have to be so damn reckless? Why can't you just stick to the plan?"

"Reckless is my middle name after all." You giggle, the kiss ever so deepening.

You're suddenly brought back into reality when a flustered cough echoes from behind you.

You and Levi took it as your cue to finally let go, releasing one another.

"I hope we're not interrupting something..." You turn to see Armin Arlert, a rookie from your fleet, approach the two of you awkwardly. "I'll be tending to Captain (Y/N)'s wounds... if you'd allow me." He clears his throat, clearly intimidated by the cold and striking facade emanating from Levi.

"Captain Erwin sent us." Mikasa added stoically. Ah yes, the ever so tactful commander.

"Were you brats watching?"

"No! Of course not!" Jean, Sasha, and Connie who were lagging from behind, dismiss Levi's claims with a dramatic wave of their hands. "We totally weren't-"

Levi sighs, "Look. Even if you were, I wouldn't get mad." There's a slight blush that slowly creeps on his face yet quickly fades away. "Just... don't get into details once Hanji or Erwin tries to bug you about it, alright?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Thank you for coming to pick us up." You smile weakly as you let Armin kneel to tend to your wounds. "Who knows what could have happened if we were left here alone?" You nudge Levi's shoulder suggestively."

He smirks, chuckling to himself. "If we were, then they'll finally have more proof that the two of us are actually together, won't they?"

taglist: @crapimahuman @hu-tao-main @smg-valeria​ @moonless-abyss @midnightangelfox @dukina @chibishae34 @arvinrusselisbae @kenmakeii  @eissaaaa @yummyyumi​ @the-one-that-lurks @prxttyguardian

[nileqt87]

How I’d write a Buffy/Angel spinoff!

I still say the best spinoff they could possibly ever make would be all the Chosen Slayers getting deactivated, then Buffy and a Shanshu'd Angel (IMO, this plot really would only work with Angel, because it actually matches his story arc, not Spike's, to want a human life and fatherhood) have a daughter who grows up not knowing the truth about her parents (and half-brother!) until it's forced to come out.

I would particularly note that the first thing that happens to newly-called Slayers is their prophetic dreams. If ever there was a way to start breaking secrets to this new heroine that also serves as flashback exposition featuring the old shows, this seems custom-built for it. It’s exposition for the audience that never saw the old shows as well as an introduction to a key Slayer ability, but most importantly, it’s personal family revelations that go far deeper than historical flashbacks of unrelated persons or monsters that mean nothing personal. These would be scandalous secrets for a baby Slayer, given Buffy was the rule-breaking Slayer who is most famous for having romantic relationships with the very creatures she’s supposed to slay. Angelus would be the worst family secret of all! This story has all the makings of an existential crisis before acceptance. That would also be a good place to drop in Connor’s history. Buffy never actually got to react to that bombshell either, so that would be an interesting drama with her, as well. Buffy and Angel both tended to feature heavily in prophetic dreams, so it also just feels right to continue that.

If there's some reason why David Boreanaz (who, let's face it, is really not getting younger and SEAL Team can't go on forever) can't or is unwilling to appear, one could have an explanation that Wolfram & Hart has had him trapped in a holding dimension for years as punishment.

You could even build an arc around that with Buffy or the daughter trying to find him. Basically, a kind way of explaining Angel's absence if necessary and Buffy unfortunately having to mirror her single mother (which was a fear of hers), despite it being no fault of Angel's. It would be yet more cruelty for him to miss out on yet another child growing up, which would be a dramatic plot point itself. It could actually become a story where he does matter quite a lot, despite initial absence or mystery.

An even bigger shock than mom having Slayer superpowers and a world full of supernatural forces would be a reveal that dad is a 394+-year-old (depends on if you count hell--in a modern-day spinoff, Angel is rapidly approaching 400 years!) ex-vampire.

The most interesting and fitting story you could ever do with a maturing Buffy would be having her be a mother and trying to have a normal life.

This would also give Sarah Michelle Gellar a starring role that allows her to be age-appropriate, yet also having a younger generation that the original audience can still care about because she isn't completely divorced from the two previous shows in the way that an unrelated Slayer spinoff would be. It allows the core storylines of *both* shows to truly matter, far more than a Buffy Steele-Gunn offspring would.

---

Just a a few notes about my pitch for a continuation that works with the real ages of actors and their availability... I should also note that Xander (played by Nick, anyway--Kelly might work for a flashback) is a character who could never appear in live-action again, so maybe he could be used as another event that contributed to Buffy's retirement besides pregnancy.

If the Shanshu and conception were directly post-NFA, any offspring would be 16 years old right now. IMO, if there were any plans to give SMG a series with her in a major supporting role, this just means that the space for how long between NFA and the Shanshu or how long Bangel got to be with each other widens for however many years it would take to revive the franchise.

I strongly believe that the best option for the franchise would be a back-to-the-suburbs story exploring age-appropriate Buffy facing motherhood, rather than trying to turn Buffy into a war general surrounded by nothing but subordinates (horribly alienating future for her) with a lack of equals or a grounded setting à la the season 8 comics. If you want to introduce the Buffyverse to a new audience whom you can't expect to watch 24-year-old shows until they're interested enough by the revival, you're going to have to ground characters in a relatable reality.

As for how a new Slayer would be called after deactivation, I firmly believe the line is through Faith now anyway, so it would just take her dying for a minute à la Prophecy Girl for a new Slayer to be called. I would definitely want Faith in the show!

--- Facebook discussion

I feel like SMG's concern was less wanting to reprise the role entirely, but more concern that she'd be expected to play the same exact role in her 40s. This is giving her a role that fits a woman (and a mother in real life) who is in her 40s and is a major supporting role rather than he young lead whose story is being centered on.

As for the Angel situation, SMG might actually be more willing to return if she could beg DB to come back for perhaps an initially-limited role and the scenario is one I believe she'd actually support, as it fits with her preferences!

While it might seem that Buffy as a single mother retreads the original, Angel is obviously nothing like the Hank situation (not to mention Joyce and Hank being completely clueless), so the circumstances of the father would be quite different from Buffy's own situation, while also feeding into her own stated fears about her future.

This also brings up all the conversations in Bad Eggs, The Prom and the Chosen cookie dough analogy (children are mentioned again) to the forefront. Unlike with the other options, it was something that came up repeatedly. Admittedly, it was always by Angel due to his infertility and the human life he most desired; all of which ended up being an important part of *his* story.

However, a part of Bad Eggs that is woefully underrated is that Buffy was disappointed when Angel told her vampires can't have children. She immediately covers it up with a babble speech and then starts making excuses for why Slayers are unlikely to have that kind of future. Young Buffy did not disregard it because she didn't want children ever at all, but because the person whom she saw that future with was someone who couldn't have them.

Enter Nikki Wood, where Buffy learns that at least one Slayer was definitely a mother, which she was clearly surprised by.

That's another reason why I can see Buffy, if she got her hopes up with post-Shanshu Angel and conceived, would do anything to be a good mom by not being all about "the mission". She would never want her child to be raised without parents. And I think she'd be doubly sensitive to that, not just because of Nikki, but because of Hank leaving and Joyce dying.

Buffy also became surrogate mother to Dawn, who was made out of her (in a sense, she is her real mother), so Angel's situation with Connor actually had a direct mirror in Buffy's situation with Dawn.

But those conversations were also not just about wished-for children that couldn't be conceived, but also asking Buffy to think about what she wants for her future if she took out the belief that Slayers don't live long enough to have one.

This show would be the answer to what happens to a Slayer when she does live long enough to have the future she barely wanted to get her hopes up for before.

Buffy (ditto Angel) is the character for which this story actually has a ton of setup in the shows themselves. These characters talked about it! And the circumstances are really nothing like Joyce and Hank, even if the initial setup plays into both Buffy and Angel's worst nightmare scenarios about parenthood: being a single mother and not getting to raise the miracle child you thought you'd never have. That kind of bittersweet writing that shirks too-good-to-be-true wish-fulfillment is a cornerstone of what makes it a Buffyverse storyline. If the daughter's family lied to her about their history to keep her safe and protect her from knowing what goes bump in the night (making them the polar opposites of Hank and Joyce in regards to knowing all too well--especially Angel's experience of being the worst thing you could bump into at night, rather than utterly clueless), that would certainly be a conflict. Especially if she found out in a particularly shocking way (say, prophetic dreams). And if Angel (I'd like to imagine he has the company of ghost!Wesley and maybe Illyria and Spike) has been taken for punishment by Wolfram & Hart, it might really confuse her if she doesn't know that he didn't just leave or some other excuse Buffy covered it up with. Wolfram & Hart would also probably love the irony of Angel getting what he most desires (to be human and a father), only to punish him with it by wasting his remaining years separated from all that he loves.

[discotreque]

Disco 4.01: Kobayashi Maru

AND WE’RE BACK, BABEY.

I got stuff to do today, so let’s just dive right in. Spoilers, obvs!

“Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as—HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT”

I loved... most of that cold open? It did a great job of (re-)introducing our characters, their relationships to each other, and their jobs on the ship; the dialogue was cute, the action was kinetic, the A-to-B-to-C stuff was efficient and tidy; and it was a Violence Problem with a Science Solution, which is always good Star Trek. (It was also painfully unsubtle and almost annoyingly smug—but I guess it wouldn’t feel like Disco if the writing on this show weren’t constantly sabotaging itself, sigh.)

I cannot even tell you how much I love Wife Guy™ Book. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you want a perfect fictional man, get a lesbian to write him. I don’t know why it works, but it does.

“Thank you, Lt. Christopher, a guy who has definitely always been on the bridge.” I joke, but welcome to the crew, dude!

If I were ever within like 50 feet of Sonequa Martin-Green and she said “Let’s fly” my knees would instantly buckle. 🥺️

Did the Ba’ul always sound like they’re voiced by Frank Oz? They’re not—it’s David Sobolov, who’s done loads of VA, including for other Star Trek stuff; the S2 Ba’ul were voiced by Mark Pellington, who’s mostly actually a director—but Sobolov’s definitely doing a little bit of Oz there and it’s great.

I’d have to go back and check to be sure, but I think they’ve redesigned the Kelpian prosthetics a little? The eye-holes seem bigger, so we can see more of the actors through the mask; I also think they might be constructing them differently, using more and smaller pieces, to better “transmit” facial expressions through the loaf—Saru especially seemed even more animated than usual. (Then again, maybe I just missed my tall boi.)

Costume designer Gersha Phillips continues to bless us: the new duty uniforms! The new dress uniforms! The cadet uniforms! The utility variants on the repair base! And the fancy Kelpian outfits too—chef’s kiss.

It’s utterly astounding to me that SMG and David Ajala never had a chemistry test. (Apparently he had visa issues or something coming from the UK to Canada, and there just wasn’t time?) I could watch them make faces at each other all day.

SPEAKING OF MAKING FACES AT EACH OTHER:

Also, Michael looking at the Federation president like “…I guess I didn’t sort out all my mommy issues last season…”

Admiral Vance’s family???? 😭️😭️😭️ (Oh noooooo, it’s not his whole family, is it…)

TILLYYYYYYY 😭️😭️😭️😭️😭️

I really liked the actor who played Book’s brother last season and I didn’t think we’d see him again! Also, that ceremony was really beautiful, and that kid was so little and so cute and such a good actor! [edit: fuckkkkkk]

Holy hell, the pure sapphic energy in “What do you mean, ‘if’?” I blushed.

ADIRA AND TILLY, SCIENCE BOSSES

The stuff between Saru and Su’Kal was very sweet (if, again, as subtle as a sledgehammer), but the whole “you’re the father I never had” bit cracked me up: the actor who plays Su’Kal is like 10 years older than Doug Jones, lmao, you just can’t tell through the loaf.

Absolutely loved the design of the 32nd-century worker bee. 🐝️

“…and then Michael Burnham got killed by a frozen fart” would have been a pretty ignoble way to go out.

SHIT

SHIT SHIT SHIT

THE MOON?????

…all of that was fucking INTENSE, holy FUCK.

Awwww, I knew that poor stressed-out commander was doomed, but it was still sad. (Also, Adira’s “I don’t understand, we made it, we were safe” broke my goddamn heart.)

Hey, are we going to dig into Michael Burnham’s god complex this season? That could be fun (and by “fun” I mean “painful and heartbreaking,” of course.)

Oh. Oh no.

So it’s going to be like that, then. Oooooof.

Guess I’m watching The Ready Room just to make myself feel better now!

[fannishcodex]

Another thought before I watch the new He-Man/MOTU:

-I am genuinely interested! It started with spop and Hordak/Entrapta, Imp, Emily, Horde Prime, Wrong Hordak (Kadroh), Horde Clones (Entrapdak/Spacebat fandom); and then I’ve started watching original ‘80s She-Ra and I’m genuinely enjoying it, and I’ve read up more on MOTU, and now I’m even more curious about checking out more MOTU. Like, the sense that the new show might be closer to original MOTU? That interests me, because original MOTU seems to have interesting concepts that have potential/could be explored more.

Also @shadsiethewriter @emperorsfoot @pennamesmith have gotten me interested in more MOTU too.

continued under the cut:

-I heard some neat casting news--Mark Hamill and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and I’m so here for that. Mark Hamill as Skeletor sounds like such a good idea given what I know of Skeletor, especially Skeletor from the original ‘80s show; and SMG is making me nostalgic and bringing back all my Feels for Buffy, especially Buffy the Character and looking back I wish spop had centered Adora as much as BtVS centered Buffy Anne Summers, like BtVS really made me love Buffy the Character and I felt it centered her pretty well from what I recall of the show.

-Orko’s design has just always looked very cute to me. He reminds me of Vivi from Final Fantasy 9 and the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts. And he’s still looking cute in the new show’s trailer, and apparently he gets some cool animation scenes, which I’m also here for.

-That first trailer just looked so fun and good to me. I was digging the animation and the action scenes and the art and the choice of “Holding Out for a Hero” as the trailer music!

-I appreciate how it seems like all the characters are just adults. 1) Again, another tidbit that seems like they’re exploring more of the original MOTU show from the ‘80s, which is neat. 2) And also it makes me think of--kinda dipping into another topic here tbh: now, there are animated shows I like with largely younger main casts (hey AtLA!), but I don’t like seeing the idea of “all-ages animated shows need younger main casts, they can’t have too many adult main characters, and the main cast definitely can’t just be adults.” I’ve found myself thinking more about some animated shows I watched before and thinking how they were foundational for me, and they were meant to be all-ages shows but they really did have adult casts--Beast Wars, Gargoyles, Justice League (Unlimited), Spider-Man the Animated Series, Reboot to an extent, etc. (BW/Gargoyles/JL/Spider-Man/these shows still had their like younger adult characters too, but they weren’t literally kids.) They were still deeply entertaining animated shows, and it seemed like they didn’t feel like kid characters were necessary to reach an all-ages audience/they weren’t intimidated by having largely adult casts in fantastical worlds meant for all-ages audiences. I think part of it was that I felt like that one Tumblr post I saw once (I forget by whom though)--it was nice to see adults having fictional adventures too (at least I believe that’s what that post conveyed; either way, it’s also something I just like to think). But honestly, I don’t really remember thinking of how I was watching adult characters when I first saw the shows--I was watching Dinobot and Goliath and Hawkgirl being really cool and interesting characters. Now, having said that, I think the new He-Man/Motu isn’t necessarily meant for an all-ages audience. (Something to Google I suppose.) Either way, I appreciate how the new MOTU show is apparently keeping their adult cast and seems more willing to explore concepts from the original MOTU stories. 

My hopes/expectations for new He-Man/MOTU:

Right now just pretty casual, I just hope it’s genuinely entertaining. If it turns out to be great to me, cool! If it’s just genuinely entertaining, that’s fine.

[amhohwa]

「 headcanon questions | accepting 」 —asked by @holographic-confidence, @exhuntra, @gueyveloz, @diamondtrail, @kiiingkobra, @lovclythief, @paquectric, @illusionage.

016. WHAT IS HIS WEAPON OF CHOICE? in the arena, he likes a few different types of weapons. im also biased so he likes the weapons that i like since he’s my main LOL. ideal loadout is a volt smg + r-301 carbine, though he’d also be satisfied with r-301 + charge rifle or r-301 + longbow dmr.

for any reconnaissance missions or other outside-the-arena activities, he favors a silenced pistol and a data knife.

also, of course, using hack as a bludgeoning weapon. he likes doing that quite a bit.

019. IF HE COULD HAVE A SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD HE CHOOSE? time travel. :^)

023. WHAT DOES HE CONSIDER BEAUTIFUL IN OTHERS PHYSICALLY? movement and posture. there’s something about the way a person carries themself, whether it’s with graceful poise, a tall and strong posture, or a confident swagger that crypto admires. probably because he tries to make himself as unobtrusive possible, to move through the world without being noticed too much. others who can carry themselves with confidence, not caring if anyone is watching them—he finds that really beautiful.

024. WHAT DOES HE CONSIDER UGLY IN OTHERS PHYSICALLY? this is hard just because i dont think he really cares what a person looks like when it comes to attraction. he’s definitely a believe that ugliness is something that shows in you because of your actions and your personality.

bad breath and bad teeth are up there though LOL

025. WHAT DOES HE CONSIDER BEAUTIFUL IN OTHERS PERSONALITY-WISE? kindness and optimism, even when faced with really difficult or terrible circumstances. he finds it really admirable that some people don’t feel the need to harden up and close themselves off in response to their trauma and hardships.

026. WHAT DOES HE CONSIDER UGLY IN OTHERS PERSONALITY-WISE? blatant and extreme cruelty. like, yeah, he’s a huge dick himself and he can say some mean things at times, but he’s definitely not the type to revel in making other people’s lives hell for the fun of it and he’s disgusted by people who do.

027. WHAT IS HIS IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS? right now crypto thinks he’ll be happy if he can clear his name, reunite with mila, and go home to suotamo and mystik. of course all of us know that is not a realistic dream and it’s never going to happen because he is unable to come to grips with the fact that he will never go back to his old life.

028. WHAT MAKES HIM LAUGH OUT LOUD? sadly nothing really does :/ it really would take a lot for that to happen. either some kind of unexpected funny thing happening or some kind of absurd statement or joke or something like that. crypto’s not a laugher, sorry 😔

029. WHAT SORT OF SENSE OF HUMOR DOES HE HAVE? on the surface? a very mean sense of humor. insults, ‘playful’ ribbing, calling everyone that’s not natalie an idiot, etc. he also enjoys sarcasm a great deal as well as deadpan humor just to fuck with people.

but he’s also not immune to a good pun (’data way,’ for example)

030. DOES HE BELIEVE IN THE AFTERLIFE? no, not really. he’s an atheist and doesn’t think there’s anything waiting for us after we die.

031. IS HE SUPERSTITIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING? not in the way this question is asking, no. he’s too much of a realist/left-brain for anything like that.

032. DOES HE BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? no (see above)

033. DOES HE KEEP HIS PROMISES? i feel like crypto makes very few promises to anyone he doesn’t trust because yes, he does actually try to keep them.

034. WHAT’S HIS VIEW OF LYING? big big fan of lying over here. love it, will do it until he dies, 10/10 because to him lying = security.

035. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE CRYPTO LIVES BY? trust nothing and no one.

038. WHAT BAD HABITS DOES HE HAVE? where to even start! LOL 

he has a plethora of bad habits. some of the more obvious are:

not getting enough sleep/pushing himself to stay up all night

not eating consistent meals

vaping

overworking

but then there are some less obvious ones like pushing people away, freezing people out, distrusting EVERYONE, and all his other little paranoid habits like:

scanning everyone who comes to his home for weapons

setting up surveillance cams around places he frequents

not eating food made by others/that doesn’t come in a sealed container

maintaining a minimalist lifestyle specifically because he will have to run again in the future

crypto is an unhealthy mess!

039. WHAT DO THEY THINK IS THE WORST THING THAT CAN BE DONE TO A PERSON? hmmm this is a hard one. because there’s the very obvious answer of, like, being tortured or assaulted and really terrible things like that but maybe those things go without saying. so in his opinion, the worst thing that can happen to a person is becoming completely stripped of their identity. it is so alienating and othering to have who you are at your core foundationally upended 

046. HOW DOES HE HANDLE GETTING SICK? like most things, crypto doesn’t handle it much at all LOL. once he realizes he’s getting sick he pushes himself through it as much as he possibly can to keep working/fighting/whatever until he physically collapses from it, whether that’s literally fainting or just falling into bed at night and waking up the next morning too sick to move. then he just lays there and hopes it passes quickly. he is horrible at self-care

049. HOW DOES CRYPTO FEEL ABOUT GROWING OLD? this is maybe a little morbid but crypto doesn’t have many feelings about growing old at the moment because he doesn’t think he’s going to live to being an old man. either the Syndicate is going to kill him or he’s going to die trying to take them down

050. HOW DOES CRYPTO FEEL ABOUT HIS OWN MORTALITY? he accepts his own mortality, and even if he’s not happy about it and even if he will fight it with gnashing teeth and claws, he accepts that he is going to die, probably soon. he’s just working to try and make it so that isn’t a thing that happens

051. IF HE KNEW HE WOULD DIE TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD CRYPTO DO TODAY? send a letter to mystik. try to get a message to mila. then he’d come up with some elaborate plan to try and really fuck things up for the Syndicate. sure it probably wouldn’t matter in the long run since they’re a huge conglomerate and have so much power but he can at least get some people thinking. so something like taking down a big rig of theirs or even just fucking up one of the arenas. something like that

068. HOW STRONG IS CRYPTO’S SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY? WHAT KINDS OF THINGS TRIGGER IT? hmmm i think crypto has a strong sense of responsibility, just generally speaking. like he keeps his living space neat and does his work on his own time and puts forth effort in the game and all that stuff. he is a very hard-working and dutiful person. i don’t think there’s anything that really ‘triggers’ it either because it’s either he does these things, or he doesn’t, but the only person who cares if he does or not is himself.

072. IN A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS GAME, WHICH CLASS WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE? i’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about this. if he was playing as a character, crypto would be a Divination Wizard for a couple of reasons. first and foremost being that of course he would get access to spells that rely all around foresight and knowledge and that’s what he’s all about—knowing more about everything going on than anyone else. he’d also favor spells that deal lightning damage. the second reason is that the main stat for wizards is Intelligence and u know he’s gotta have that 20 INT babey.

in my D&D au, though, crypto is a multi-classed Divination Wizard and Inquisitve Rogue. started out as a divination wizard as tae joon but then took up some rogue-like skills after going on the run. i picked Inquisitive Rogue because they’re all about perceiving little details and stuff like that. i know that’s more WIS and less INT but it suits crypto imho.

074. WHAT IS CRYPTO’S FAVORITE GAME? sorry in advance that im not going to pick just one. he likes a lot of different kinds of games, but i think his favorite kinds are horror games, games of strategy, and fighting games. so, stuff like detention, dead space, cultist simulator, portal, tekken, street fighter, etc.

078. HOW EMOTIONALLY STABLE IS YOUR CHARACTER? heeeeeee is not LOL. i mean, the reason he keeps such a tight grip on his persona and his emotions is because he’s like one misstep away from a total meltdown. he’s never properly grieved or mourned about what happened to him and having to go on the run, and now he can’t show any kind of emotion because that equals some kind of weakness or chink in the armor.

but under that armor he feels things INTENSELY. everyone gets on his nerves so easily, and everything that’s happened to him in the games so far is piling on: being framed as the mole, having to tell natalie his name, and now pathfinder/caustic. and thats not even touching on his crippling paranoia. it’s a lot from him and he is barely keeping it together. he’s just good at hiding it.

even so, it manifests in all the little ways, right? so like how he cant even enjoy a meal without wondering if it’s poisoned, his inability to sleep through the night, how he has to scan even pathfinder for weapons when he comes into his house. crypto is an mental and emotional disaster

085. DESCRIBE HIM IN THREE WORDS. stoic. resilient. paranoid.

087. HOW WOULD CRYPTO DESCRIBE HIMSELF IN THREE WORDS? genius. prepared. determined.

[katalicz]

Valentine

Hey all here is my vague attempt at a bliban valentine!

you can also find it here on ao3!

Blitz pushes his way into the shooting range, the rhythmical sounds of Bandit’s MP7’s burst fire confirming that he’s in the right place, and slowly makes his way to the lane that he knows Bandit prefers.

It’s been a few days since they’ve last spoken, and Blitz is feeling oddly apprehensive about it now. He hasn’t really got a reason to – he knows Bandit and he knows himself and he knows that there’s something more than friendship between them, but a few too many unsubtle remarks from Jäger and Smoke about getting down to business have made things horrifically awkward. He’s fairly sure that Bandit has been avoiding him because of it, which is understandable, because he’s been avoiding Bandit too.

But that’s gone on long enough, now, and he misses Bandit’s company, be it platonic or not, so he sits himself down on the bench by the wall to wait for Bandit to finish, his heart in his throat and eyes taking in Bandit’s shooting form. It’s as good as always, despite the knee injury he’d received in Belarus two weeks ago, and the slick ease with which he fires makes something warm curl in Blitz’s gut.

He watches Bandit unload another two clips, the familiar purr of the SMG doing more to soothe his nerves than the terrible pep-talk IQ and Jäger had tried to give him back in the common room, and forces himself to his feet when Bandit starts his usual finishing ritual of flicking on the safety and peering down the sights to check the target.

He moves forwards when Bandit’s helmet’s off, making his footsteps louder as he approaches – he’s not sure if Bandit heard him come in or not, and he’d rather not startle him when he’s got a gun in his hand, even though the safety’s on.

Bandit glances up when he gets close and nods minutely in greeting. His hair is sticking up where he’s dragged a hand through it and there’s a grease mark on his cheek, and it’s so endearingly Bandit that it makes Blitz’s chest ache a little.

“How long have you been there?” Bandit asks awkwardly, not quite meeting Blitz’s eyes, and Blitz internally curses Jäger and his big mouth for making things weird between them.

Blitz shrugs a shoulder. “Not long. Your knee looks better.”

There’s silence for a moment, and if Blitz were a lesser person he’d run away until the air between them is clearer and his heart doesn’t feel like it’s going to jump out of his chest. It helps a little that Bandit looks as uncomfortable as he feels, and it’s that that makes him square his shoulders and push on.

“Look, I'm sorry about what they said. They had no right to get involved –”

Bandit crosses his arms and leans against the partition, an unreadable look on his face. “It’s fine, whatever. What do you want?”

Blitz freezes and pushes his hands into the pockets of his hoodie to disguise the fact that they're trembling. “It’s Valentine’s day tomorrow,” he says, staring down the lane so that he doesn’t have to look at Bandit, and hoping that he sounds less nervous than he feels.

He sees Bandit stiffen out of the corner of his eye. “It is,” Bandit says, voice completely void of emotion.

Blitz digs his fingernails into the palms of his hands and screws up his courage. “Would you like to go somewhere? Just the two of us?”

He glances across at Bandit, who’s chewing on his lip and still looking entirely unreadable. It makes him feel a little bit sick, if he’s honest – what if he’s been reading this wrong the whole time, and Bandit isn't interested? – but as he opens his mouth to maybe apologise and run and never come back, Bandit speaks up.

“Like a date?” he asks, and at Blitz’s stilted nod, he softens.

“Yeah,” Blitz says quietly, and turns to face Bandit properly. “Like a date. Like normal people do.”

The corner of Bandit’s mouth quirks up slightly, and Blitz is hit with a wave of relief that makes his head spin.

“What do you mean, like normal people do?” Bandit asks, teasing gently as though testing the waters, and if Blitz weren’t so strung out he’d reach over and hug him gratefully.

He cautiously grins back instead and says, “Y’know, going for dinner and a movie, maybe have a picnic in the park, go ice skating –”

Bandit snorts and rolls his eyes. “I’ve never done any of those things in my life,” he says, and Blitz doesn’t think he imagines the hint of longing in his voice. It makes his chest tighten a little – Bandit deserves to go on a date, damn it, and he’s suddenly all the more determined to take him on one.

“I’ll take you out,” he says firmly, trying to contain his joy, and Bandit’s eyes gleam. “I’ll even hold the doors open for you and pay the bill.”

Bandit’s smile is brighter than Blitz has ever seen. “I’d like that,” he says warmly, and Blitz has to keep control of himself so that he doesn’t say something stupid, like ‘I really want to kiss you,’ or ‘I’m really kind of in love with you.’.

They look at each other for a minute, the silence no longer awkward and Blitz feeling lighter than he has in days. Bandit chews the inside of his cheek and tilts his head as though preparing to say something, but the door to the range swings open and the loud laughter of Smoke and Mute fills the room, and the moment is broken.

Bandit snaps back into action and turns to his gun, but the soft expression doesn’t go, and Blitz finds himself committing it to memory before going to fetch the broom to sweep up the bullet casings that are still scattered across the floor.

(They go out to eat at a restaurant that sells far too little food for far too high a price, but it’s well worth it for the look on Bandit’s face and the talk that they finally manage to have, now that there’s nobody around to interrupt.)

(Blitz can’t help but kiss him outside the base, short and sweet and eagerly returned, and decides that it’s the happiest he’s felt in a long, long time.)

(By the soft look on Bandit’s face as they part ways for bed, he agrees.)

[bwprowl]

Alright, Hasbro’s Overwatch toys are finally trickling out! Enterprising toy-hunters are tracking them down at some Wal-Marts, and here I am, just stumbling across the first wave of single ‘Ultimates’ figures at my nearest Target! Not sure if I’m planning on going entirely all-in on this line (I still have a ton of love for Overwatch but not as much time to actually play it these days) but I had to at least grab a couple to try it out. I went with Sombra, since she’s a sharp design who hasn’t gotten a figma or anything else yet, and Blackwatch Reyes, because I think it’s cool that Hasbro’s doing alternate skins right out of the gate, and because everyone knows Gabe is *hilarious*.

Let’s start with him. Just to start, yeah, this is probably the closest we’ll ever get to a figure of JOHN FREEMAN WHO IS GORDON FREEMANS BROTHER. Man, what is WITH that coincidence of a design, anyway? Anyway, this figure looks pretty sharp. The glossiness of the paint on his face and its sculpt does make him look a bit more somber than Gabe’s usual angry snarl, but overall it seems to be a good likeness of the design; only other oddity, to me, is how his shirt’s drawstrings look sculpted on his chest. But he’s cool, he’s got good tampos of his logos on his shoulders, and there definitely is some novelty just having a toy of this design from this series in a toy I just bought in a big-box store.

The articulation’s really good, actually. The combination ball-jointed torso and ab crunch give him a lot of range of motion (including being able to pull off the ‘sexy boob’n’butt’ pose, eat your heart out, Widow). Still, there are some caveats. He doesn’t really have proper ankle rockers, being kinda integrated into the front/back ankle hinges, so they aren’t as convenient as that articulation should be. Also, his shoulders are actually SUPER articulated, I count THREE joints in there between the inward-shoulder chest joints, the universal balls connecting them, and the bicep swivel that attaches to that. It’s nuts and gives him a lot of room to work with in terms of pulling off poses from the games and looking natural. The downside is that with all those moving parts, some are looser than I’d like. In particular, the shoulder joints have some trouble holding up his weapons when they’re in there, which is a bummer. The guns are cool, Reyes’s big ridiculous shotguns that they are, with attachable blast effects (so glad Hasbro finally discovered effects parts) that’ll make you want to have a lot of room to display him splaying them out, Death Blossom-ing and so forth. And he’s got attachable non-gun-holding hands that seem specifically designed to recreate his victory/taunt pose.

Reyes is good, with qualifiers, but Sombra comes out significantly more impressive. Her joints overall are just significantly more tight and solid. She is limited in the torso and shoulders a bit, thanks to her coat kinda making it hard to properly position her abdomen, but it works, and also means there’s no joints at all actually visible in that section. And the sculpt and colors on this thing just SING. Check out that headsculpt: Nothing even slightly ‘off’ about that, that’s a shockingly true-to-likeness render for a retail Hasbro action figure. Sombra’s playing on easy mode since her design is so good to begin with, but Hasbro nailed it, from the colors (all that painted detail on the head!) to the design of the jacket to her ridiculous Vibrams-esque toe shoes.

Does make me wish for a figma-style stand for these, as Sombra’s one flaw is that her teeny girl feet make it a bit hard to stand her in some poses. That’s minor though, and she looks so good with what she has that it’s hard to complain. She’s got her SMG, all painted up nicely. Her teleporter is here, and you can either jam it in her hand or have it as one of the accessories that just goes *around* the figure. And she’s got a sweet effects part: Her ‘hacking’ skill effect, which slips quite easily onto one of her alternate hands, and she can hold up well, looking quite cool.

Both toys are good and I’m glad I got them to check out the line, but if you can only get just one, Sombra’s your girl. But overall Overwatch Ultimates is off to a great start, feeling more easy to pick up and fuss with than the figma versions at over half the price, but seemingly with little detail or design work sacrificed because of it. And they seem to scale pretty well together, and Hasbro’s already getting several heroes out. At this quality, I’m really hoping they get to a D.Va (with full MEKA) or Brigitte. Might have to actually hit up Wal-Mart to see if they’ve got any of those two-packs now.

Thanks for everything, everyone! You take care of yourself, and have fun out there.